Mexico authorities mulling $10 million fine for election victors

MEXICO CITY: Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s party could face a $10 million (7.56 million pounds) fine for violations of campaign finance rules, the national electoral institute said on Wednesday following the group’s wide-reaching election victory.

Lopez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor who has vowed to root out corruption and make government contracts transparent, on Sunday won by a landslide while his leftist National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) took an outright majority in Congress.

The possible fine of more than 197 million pesos, slated to be put to a vote by the National Electoral Institute (INE) on July 18, would be the largest related to campaign financing for the recently concluded election season.

It is nearly as much as the 207.5 million pesos authorized by INE as MORENA’s public financing for campaign spending in 2018 federal elections.

MORENA’s representative at the institute did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to the institute, MORENA formed a trust that it did not report in which it deposited, mostly through cash deposits, about 78.8 million pesos ($4 million) as well as checks and bank transfers.